Sunday, August 8, 2010

At our house we love our Mexican food. Of-course staying at San Diego for years didn't hurt either ;) If you visit San Diego, I definitely recommend visiting an area called Old Town which is famous for its spectacular Mexican restaurants and fresh produce and pottery markets. Whether you are in mood for some fine dining or merely a roadside devouring of tortilla wraps, Old Town is the place for you! For me the best part of Old Town are the fresh tortilla stalls. There are restaurants on the strip which have an extension overlooking the street where a lady makes fresh corn and flour tortillas. For about 50cents a piece you can enjoy a tortilla hot off the gridle lightly brushed with butter and seasoned with home-made hot salsa! Heaven wrapped in a foil indeed! The only thing is now you can't be skimpy about eating on the roadside ;)

Anyway, I digress. Looking at some of our old SD photos, I got nostalgic for some Mexican today. Fish tacos can be quite greasy with fried fish and a mayo leaden dressing so I tried poaching the fish instead and made a lemon-vinegar based coleslaw dressing. I must say I was impressed by the poaching technique! The fish cooks very quickly and absorbs all the deliciousness of the poaching liquid. To top it all its even an oil-free way to cook the fish. Overall, the fish tacos were absolutely delicious! The recipe is very adaptive so feel free to add your favorite Mexican condiments: spanish rice, tomato salsas, mango salsa, guacamole, sour cream.. all good :) Now really, if you needed a reason to make a margarita night, this is the one ;)

Fish tacos

Serves 3-4

Recipe: Coleslaw without the mayo

Ingredients:

1C finely shredded or chopped green cabbage

1/2C shredded carrot

1Tbsp chopped cilantro

lemon juice (few Tbsp - to taste)

olive oil (less than a tsp)

sugar (pinch)

1Tbsp sunflower seeds (for crunch)

pinch of dried oregano

salt to taste

Recipe:

Mix everything well. Taste and adjust the taste per seasonings.

Recipe: Black bean salsa

Ingredients:

1/2 lemon

1 15oz can black beans

2 ripe tomatoes

1/4 large red onion

1Tbsp chopped cilantro

1/2tsp cumin powder

pinch of dried oregano

pinch of crushed red chili flakes

salt

Recipe:

Finely chop the onion, tomatoes (remove the seeds if you wish), cilantro and mix everything well. Taste and adjust the seasonings per taste.

Recipe: Poached fish

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet

1/2 lemon - cut into round slices

3-4 whole black peppers

2C water (water quantity depends on your pan's surface area and the size of fish - use enough to barely submerse the fish)

1tsp olive oil

s & p

Recipe:

In a wide bottom pan add enough water so the fish would barely submerge. Add few lemon slices; sprinkle some lemon juice; add a few whole black pepper and bring the water to barely boiling. Reduce heat to simmer. Add the fish fillet and cook covered for 5-10 mins until the fish is cooked through (when poked with a fork it falls apart easily). Remove from stove. Remove the fish from water. Using a fork shred it into smaller pieces. Add some olive oil, salt & pepper and set the shredded fish pieces aside.

Vegetarian alternative:

Lightly saute thinly sliced 1 green and 1 red bell pepper with 1 chopped onion and a few sliced mushrooms in 1Tbsp olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, crushed chili flakes and oregano (or your favorite Mexican spice blend). Cook for 5-10mins until the peppers are tender but not overcooked.

this is my first visit to ur blog ... and must say you have a beautifull collection of recipes and presentation style..i went through you blog ...each dish looks so mouthwatering...this chickpea flour with coconut filling looked so good...this taco looks very and healthy i will a vegetarian version...thanks for sharing

thats an amazing recipe. yesterday only a friend called up for fish fillet recipe and I suggested him the grilled fish wraps. love your idea of poaching fish fillets...great flavours too. after the success of wholewheat tortilla now I want to make corn tortillas...but yet to find corn meals here. love this recipe...very filling.

Loved the Poaching fish option..now a days I am trying to avoid oil as much I can mainly in our dinner table...this is a very healthy tasty and easy to make dish..perfect for dinner...

We often visit san Diego...to the Zoo, wild animal park and sea world...but never visited any other place there...thanks for sharing the info about old town...will surely visit it in our next visit to san diego...

hi pj ,chanced upon your blog while surfing the web ... liked your style of blogging and collection of so many yummy dishes ,i bookmarked some ,have to go through more ...u have a great presentation style and your pictures r just stunning!Fish tacos look lovely..have bookmarked your site , will b visiting often :)take care,aipihttp://usmasala.blogspot.com/

Kamalika, oil-free cooking was definitely a plus for me and the cooking time was so much reduced! i had to flake it to make sure it actually was cooked. definitely visit old town next time you go there, its a wonderful place.

It's high time I have to make some fish tacos now...everytime I make fish I say I'm gonna make fish taco & HE(hubby) or She(my daughter) say no.....& suggest me with their fav. fish dish & I end up making that....now looking at that pic I'm feeling more hungry for these...beautiful & tasty....

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This page and all of its contents is copyright of Prajakta Gudadhe. All rights reserved.

This is a web catalog of the recipes that I have tried and tasted in my kitchen. While these recipes and instructions have worked well for me, please use all the information and the recipes from Ginger and Garlic at your own risk.